Abstract:
The "Soil Geomorphic Record of Climate Change and Quaternary LandscapeEvolution in Southern New Mexico (Chihuahuan Desert)" database tracks naturalcycles of climate change and quaternary landscape evolution in southern NewMexico using soil-geomorphic studies.

Collection Organization: New Mexico State University

Collection Methodology: Landscape stability and soil formation depends on theabundance of vegetative cover which, in turn, is dependent on moisture. Byradiometrically dating soil development, periods of aridity can by inferred.Calcium carbonate in buried soils has an isotopic signature that reflects thevegetation types and mean annual temperature that occurred before the soil wasburied. Mass spectrometer analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes can provideinformation on both paleoecology and paleotemperatures. Buried soils, if wellpreserved, contain fossil pollen which provides information about thevegetation during the time before the soil was buried. The migration of sanddunes and their stabilization and pedogenic alteration also providesinformation on previous climates, based on the premise that dune migration ismost active during arid periods. Soil formation on sediment deposited bypaleolakes can provide information about the expansion and contraction of lakeswhich is dependent on both precipitation and temperature.